Chinese zodiac

An ancient Chinese proverb says, “A horse brings victory”, and indeed the Horse is considered one of the most fortunate animals in the Chinese zodiac. Horse symbolizes movement, traveling and quick success. Able to outrun, out-jump, just about out-anything all the other creatures in the Chinese pantheon, there is perhaps no other animal that humans value and admire more. Their strength, beauty, and daring inspire us to show what we’re made of, move forward in life, take a chance, and dare to be beautiful all at once! Horses, carefree by nature, need open space. If they find themselves constrained by rules and regulation, a proud Horse naturally rebels, refusing to be tamed or penned in.

A fascinating beast for sure…

The first day of the Green Wood Horse year is February 4, 2014. Wood introduces a new principle — the process of emergence, growth and upward moving chi. The Horse is at the gate and ready to move. Subterranean reality is now ready to be birthed. All the life that’s been gathering in the decay and decomposition that has taken place since 2008 (2 years of Earth- Rat and Ox, followed by 2 years of Metal – Tiger & Rabbit) has been saturated with 2 years of Water (Dragon and Snake). Now it’s ready to break through the crust of the earth and SPROUT! For some water-logged folks, this is a tremendous relief.

Last year’s Water Snake is the first of the 2 Fire animals, but Snake’s Fire is Yin, more like the early morning sun. The Fire of Horse is Yang, more like the sun at mid-day. This energetic quality is much more powerful and volatile. And because this is a Wood Year, possibly more impulsive and dangerous since Fire has more Wood to burn. You have to wonder whether there is too much! Certainly, there will be a lot of strong activity and movement this year.

Wood represents Liver Chi in Chinese medicine and relates to the liver, gall bladder, eyes, tendons and ligaments, joints, and nerves. Anger, frustration, and resentment are the negative emotions associated with this organ complex and the virtues of kindness, generosity, and forgiveness are present when Wood is balanced. Chinese medicine often refers to the Liver as the “General” because its main function is to direct the inner body processes and to coordinate them into a functioning whole.

In Taoist meditation, the Liver is referred to as the “second in command” after the Heart. Make sure you have enough Wood to burn. Take care of this aspect of your energy by watching your diet, eliminating fatty foods, eating more greens, and cleansing your liver with daily doses of citrus, particularly lemon juice.

It’s important to balance your Fire energy also since it can easily go haywire with so much Wood feeding it. Balanced Fire energy is neither a Fire raging out of control, nor a weak Fire flickering and struggling to stay lit, but something more like a warm, evenly burning candle flame. Remember that Fire is represented in the body by the heart so be prepared to hear more about heart health, inflammation, blood pressure, and blood disease. For those who have tendencies in this direction, it’s important to reduce stress by meditation and stress management techniques. Tai Chi, Qigong, and Yoga, will help enormously, smoothing out Horse’s rough edges. Supplement your diet with Omega 3s, vitamins C & E to reduce cholesterol, and ubiquinol or COQ -10.

Yang Wood is a strong tree – unbending, a bit stubborn, headstrong, and uncompromising. Combined with the amount of Fire represented by Horse, this year can produce some difficult situations both personally and on the world stage. Previous Wood Horse Years occurred in 1954 when the French were defeated in Vietnam & the CIA sponsored a military coup in Guatemala leading to 35 years of civil war; and in 1894, which was the beginning of the Sino Japanese war.

Remember that Fire represents the aggressive aspect of Wood. So beware of letting your tendencies to stick to your principles tip over into ego-driven, inflexible stubbornness. Do your best to refrain from acting impulsively and creating conflict. Work to compromise and find solutions.

Fire generally is optimistic and will continue to drive the economy and heat up the stock market. In the last Yang Wood Horse year (1954), the stock market reached its highest peak since the Wall Street crash of 1929. Fire businesses – energy, air travel, sports, exercise & health, fashion, beauty, advertising, the media, entertainment of all kinds, and restaurants will do well this year. Some good money luck this year goes also to Wood people. Earth element is “money” to Wood people so anything to do with real estate, property, home improvement, and earth related activities bring profit.

There is the possibility of natural disasters as well. Fire controls Metal in the 5 Element Theory and Metal is Lung energy, skin, breath, and the air around us. We probably haven’t heard the last about Fukushima (Radiation/Fire in the Ocean, a perfect manifestation of last year’s Water Snake). The Wood energy is dry with Yang Fire burning under it. So more possibility of forest fires as well.

And love? Definitely. Chinese astrology considers Horse “The Flower of Romance” or “The Peach Blossom” and Horse will keep your social life buzzing if you are at all interested in making a new heart connection or solidifying a present one.

So get ready…This Horse Year gives us an amazing and refreshing change of pace. Change happens quickly, victories are sweet, adventures prove memorable, and romance is in the air. What could be better?

Don’t miss out! No matter your animal sign, get on your trusty steed and trust your instincts to take you on the ride of your life!

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